Kyoko Saito: "Nukarumi no Shokutaku" drama, episode seven of nine recap

 

 Air Dates: October 21st until December 16, 2023 on TV Asahi, Saturdays at 11:30 pm

Episodes are 24 minutes in length, subs were done by ArPsanSubs

Main Cast: Not too large of a cast as it appears there will only be six major characters. Of course the main one is Kyoko who is my reason for viewing this drama. Wrote most of the below up after watching the first two episodes, will keep updating this section as we go along. This is a nine episode series so will have three batches of three recaps. The setting has never been mentioned but the location is a smallish city.

 Kyoko Saito as Mia Neijiki.... Young woman of about 24 in age who works at the smallish Super Suzuran market. Until the third episode that is as Mia quit due to her feelings about her manager Natsuo's family. Mia lives with her mother who constantly puts her down but she puts up with it, Mia has zero confidence in herself. The father died eight yeas ago and he too was so strict with his daughter, she's seen no happiness in her life. Until recently as Mia has started an affair with her store manager who is twenty years older, she thinks the world of him and why? His name is Natsuo who is married but his wife is suffering from a mental condition so eventually wanted to break it off with Mia. Who would hear nothing of it and has plans to 'cure' the wife thinking it'll reunite her with Natsuo!? There is another in this ordeal who is the manager's son Haruki who has fallen head over heels for her.... Mia too has feelings for this high school senior.

 Hisashi Yoshizawa as Natsuo Nasukawa.... Did give a lot of info about him above. He's the manager of the Super Suzuran store and is twenty yeas older than Mia. When Natsuo's wife became sick he began an affair with Mia but when the series began it hadn't been going on for too long. When his wife Fumiko's condition became worse Natsuo wanted to end things with Mia as he had to do all of the chores at home which he actually hadn't been doing as it was a pig sty at his apartment! The next character is his eighteen year old son Haruki who is a senior in high school.

Kaito Sakurai as Haruki Nasukawa.... Son of the above man and while skipping school one day had met Mia at the back of his father's store. Haruki has become so smitten with her and the feeling may be mutual but he does have someone who worships him in an eerie way. Her name is Chifuyu and is Natsuo's classmate at school, she's had a crush on him for many years. However Chifuyu has spread rumors around school about the condition of Haruki's mother and how the two once had sex after he pushed himself onto Chifuyu! Which was an out and out lie but she hasn't taken it back and now Haruki has become an outcast at school and is often truant, he is an excellent runner and is on the track team.

Naho Toda as Fumiko Nasugawa.... That's Fumiko below on the left, her mental condition has been improving thanks to Mia and in real life Naho really is a very attractive woman. She's been married to Natsuo for twenty years and it's her problems that have prevented him and Mia from continuing their affair!

Nanoka Hara as Chifuyu Ozaki.... We met her in the second episode and she wants to be with Haruki so desperately, the pair are classmates. The pair have been friends for a while but he wants to end that, Chifuyu comes off as such a sweet young woman but is anything but that! She's spread rumors about the condition of Haruki's mother and has even hinted that he raped her which was such a massive lie.

Mariko Tsutsui as Miyuki Neijiki.... The second screenshot is of Mia's father who died eight years ago, on occasion we will be seeing him in a flashback scene. Miyuki is Mia's mother and she constantly berates her only daughter, this is not a likable mother! The pair do live together and Miyuki often throws in snide remarks such as 'why would any man want you as a wife'!

Previous recaps: May not often refer back to what's taken place so it may be wise to skim through these recaps which aren't too long.

Episode one .... Episode two .... Episode three .... Episode four

Episode five .... Episode six

 

 Final trio of recaps and did zip through this drama fairly quickly. Granted the episodes are just 23+ minutes in length but didn't take a break of more than one day between episodes. Usually haven't discussed too much of what's taken place up until now and won't be doing that for today. If you've been reading these posts then you already know where the story stands and will have no problems following the action. If you're new to this series would recommend skimming through those above recaps and as it says none of the recaps are that long. Still don't know what the name of this rural town where the story is set but it could be one of the two in the second screenshot below. On the bus it says the Kokusai Kyogo Bus and those two do sound like names so odds are the setting is one of them. Let's get to the action and there's two more recaps after this which will finish the series.

 If you read that previous recap you know that Haruki's stalker/wanna-be lover Chifuyu has become more devious than ever and really has Haruki tied around her finger! It's so bad the last episode ended with Haruki standing on a bridge deciding whether to jump or not, a life with Chifuyu in it isn't worth living! But a phone call from Mia changed that plan and she asked to see him immediately, don't know where he was but Haruki had to take a bus back to town. The pair did continue their conversation from the fifth episode and Haruki is slowly revealing the cruel acts Chifuyu has been doing to his life but did leave out the fact suicide may be his only option. Mia knew Chifuyu was a troubled teen but not to that extent, thought perhaps Mia may have come up with a plan to help Haruki take revenge but for now there's nothing in the works. Hope there is as Chifuyu is one person who is so easy to hate and we didn't see all that much of her in this show though her name was mentioned often.

 Haruki finally did reveal to Mia he's known about the affair she's been having with his father Natsuo and she didn't deny it but did say Natsuo still loved his family deeply. His wife Fumiko is a person who didn't make an appearance in this show and she had been a key figure in the story for the last four shows. Mia has been acting as her 'counselor' and has been helping Fumiko out tremendously with her mental condition. Besides Haruki others have discovered that Natsuo has been having an affair with Mia. Who were his employees at the Suzuran Mart where Natsuo is the manager and Mia had once worked there for two years. The rumor among the employees was that Natsuo and Mia are an item, he was confronted by his workers above and denied everything. But that worker in the above screenshot said he saw Natsuo and Mia at a store buying condoms which would have been true but they haven't visited a love hotel for a few weeks, how will this rumor affect Natsuo at his job?

 Know what my answer to that above question would be!!!! Who we hadn't seen for the last two episodes was Mia's cruel mother Miyuki, it's true that she is quite a stern mother but we did learn her past wasn't all that happy either. Her husband, who is now dead, has never been named but when she married him Miyuki wasn't well liked by his family and was considered to be an outcast as they would just ignore her. That and other acts from the family carried over to the present day for Miyuki but she did show a softer side in this episode towards Mia and even complimented her on learning out to cook. Had forgotten to add in that after that conversation the previous night Haruki had spent the evening at Mia's house as her mother was working the overnight shift, think she's a nurse. So Mia had prepared a meal which turned out well and she did learn some cooking from Haruki's mother Fumiko, Miyuki had seen the remains that weren't cleaned up.

 We did see Chifuyu very briefly in this show and her cruelty hasn't abated. After class she went up to Haruki who was complaining about his health, Chifuyu said let's go to the infirmary and you knew something was up! That's above as Chifuyu slid into the infirmary bed with Haruki and said wouldn't it be the perfect time to yell 'RAPE!' again! With that Haruki tore out of the room and I'm hoping Chifuyu gets a proper payback for her viciousness. A lot did happen in the show but we're already down to the final scene but it was a bit of a long one. After fleeing from Chifuyu Haruki roamed the town streets in pouring rain and with nowhere to go arrived at Mia's house. Haruki was probably thinking that her mother would be out again all night working but that wasn't to be, Miyuki would be home very shortly and can Mia somehow devise a quick plan to hide Haruki for the night?

 There's only about five minutes remaining in the show, these episodes do go by quickly and there's really been zero filler to date. The mother Miyuki did return home shortly and Mia was able to hide Haruki here and there in the house, by the end of the show Miyuki still had no clue there was a man there! One thing she did notice was while having dinner with Mia was that her ears were pierced but didn't say a word, what is there to say to a daughter about 25 in age? That screenshot where Mia uttered to Haruki 'Let's take a bath together' never quite took place as he did but Mia jumped into the shower, what would have happened if the mother entered????

We're down to the final minute or so of the show and what the mother Miyuki also does often is pop into Mia's bedroom unannounced. So she did take a chance with having Haruki sleep in her room, both were in a futon in case the mother did burst in. However as you can see in the bottom screenshot above if Miyuki did burst in she would find more than a man sleeping with Mia as Haruki rolled on top of her and will there be any hanky panky going on..... with the mother in the next room? That we will find out about in the next episode which is the following post, that show I haven't viewed yet to keep the very slight suspense up.

     

Kyoko Saito: "Nukarumi no Shokutaku" drama, episode eight of nine recap

 

 Air Dates: October 21st until December 16, 2023 on TV Asahi, Saturdays at 11:30 pm

Episodes are 24 minutes in length, subs were done by ArPsanSubs

Main Cast: Not too large of a cast as it appears there will only be six major characters. Of course the main one is Kyoko who is my reason for viewing this drama. Wrote most of the below up after watching the first two episodes, will keep updating this section as we go along. This is a nine episode series so will have three batches of three recaps. The setting has never been mentioned but the location is a smallish city.

 Kyoko Saito as Mia Neijiki.... Young woman of about 24 in age who works at the smallish Super Suzuran market. Until the third episode that is as Mia quit due to her feelings about her manager Natsuo's family. Mia lives with her mother who constantly puts her down but she puts up with it, Mia has zero confidence in herself. The father died eight yeas ago and he too was so strict with his daughter, she's seen no happiness in her life. Until recently as Mia has started an affair with her store manager who is twenty years older, she thinks the world of him and why? His name is Natsuo who is married but his wife is suffering from a mental condition so eventually wanted to break it off with Mia. Who would hear nothing of it and has plans to 'cure' the wife thinking it'll reunite her with Natsuo!? There is another in this ordeal who is the manager's son Haruki who has fallen head over heels for her.... Mia too has feelings for this high school senior.

 Hisashi Yoshizawa as Natsuo Nasukawa.... Did give a lot of info about him above. He's the manager of the Super Suzuran store and is twenty yeas older than Mia. When Natsuo's wife became sick he began an affair with Mia but when the series began it hadn't been going on for too long. When his wife Fumiko's condition became worse Natsuo wanted to end things with Mia as he had to do all of the chores at home which he actually hadn't been doing as it was a pig sty at his apartment! The next character is his eighteen year old son Haruki who is a senior in high school.

Kaito Sakurai as Haruki Nasukawa.... Son of the above man and while skipping school one day had met Mia at the back of his father's store. Haruki has become so smitten with her and the feeling may be mutual but he does have someone who worships him in an eerie way. Her name is Chifuyu and is Natsuo's classmate at school, she's had a crush on him for many years. However Chifuyu has spread rumors around school about the condition of Haruki's mother and how the two once had sex after he pushed himself onto Chifuyu! Which was an out and out lie but she hasn't taken it back and now Haruki has become an outcast at school and is often truant, he is an excellent runner and is on the track team.

Naho Toda as Fumiko Nasugawa.... That's Fumiko below on the left, her mental condition has been improving thanks to Mia and in real life Naho really is a very attractive woman. She's been married to Natsuo for twenty years and it's her problems that have prevented him and Mia from continuing their affair!

Nanoka Hara as Chifuyu Ozaki.... We met her in the second episode and she wants to be with Haruki so desperately, the pair are classmates. The pair have been friends for a while but he wants to end that, Chifuyu comes off as such a sweet young woman but is anything but that! She's spread rumors about the condition of Haruki's mother and has even hinted that he raped her which was such a massive lie.

Mariko Tsutsui as Miyuki Neijiki.... The second screenshot is of Mia's father who died eight years ago, on occasion we will be seeing him in a flashback scene. Miyuki is Mia's mother and she constantly berates her only daughter, this is not a likable mother! The pair do live together and Miyuki often throws in snide remarks such as 'why would any man want you as a wife'!

Previous recaps: May not often refer back to what's taken place so it may be wise to skim through these recaps which aren't too long.

Episode one .... Episode two .... Episode three .... Episode four

Episode five .... Episode six

 

 One more show to go after this post and then another series will bite the dust! This was an okay episode but think the previous few were a tad better, once again what could have been an intense cliffhanger leading into the next episode didn't turn out to be all that exciting. So while not as much seemed to take place in this show think it did set things up nicely for an interesting finale and have no clue what to expect. Won't view the ninth episode until this recap is finished so let's get to what took place.

 Episode seven ended off with Mia hiding Haruki out in her bedroom as her mother Miyuki had come home early that evening from work. Miyuki is an astute and curious woman, surprised she never noticed Mia bringing him dinner, heard their voices or that Haruki had taken a bath. Personally thought and bet many other viewers did too that when Haruki rolled onto Mia as that last show ended she would be his first ever 'Lover'. That didn't take place(yet) as after he unbuttoned one on her top Mia said to stop and really didn't give a reason why. Haruki was a tad disappointed but did he really think that the two could have had an encounter in Mia's room with her mother not far away? Mia does like Haruki quite a bit but of course his father Natsuo more as the pair have had an affair going on for a few months. Wonder if that was a reason she told Haruki to stop and am also am wondering would Mia really leave town with a high school student?

 The next morning Miyuki did leave for work but that was the impression she gave to Mia, will explain that soon. Mia did walk Haruki part of the way home and during that stroll he did ask Mia to break things off with his father, to that she gave no answer. For almost two shows it did appear Mia was trying to slowly ease away from Natsuo but now it seems those feelings for him have come back, maybe even stronger than ever. Later at home Haruki did confront his father about his affair with Mia but that went nowhere for him. Natsuo said while be may have been in the wrong with this affair and his others(!) what does Haruki know about life? Not much and Natsuo did ask why hasn't be been attending school as they had called him about that. Haruki still has the evil aura of Chifuyu hanging over him and can't bring himself to tell his father about the cruel things she's done to date and may do in the future. Chifuyu never made an appearance in this episode but she still is a key part of the story and sure we'll see plenty of her in the final show. 

 In two above screenshots is Mia's cousin on her father's side Akari, Kyoko fans should know who she is in real life. Akari is a beautician  in Tokyo and is expecting her third child, she came to her hometown to pick up a few things. Until that point had never realized that the house Mia and her mother are living in was the house of the mother's in-laws. They don't see each other often but Mia seems to really like Akari quite a bit who may have acted as a bigger sister in their younger days. Mia did confess that she's in love with someone and may have plans of getting married to him, that would please her mother Miyuki to no end. But Akari said forget about trying to please your mother, you're old enough and can do whatever you want to with your life. Akari soon left and did leave Mia some perfumes from her Tokyo store, that will be a key point later on. While she was leaving we viewers saw hiding in the bushes next to a window was Mia's mother MIyuki who overheard every single word! 

 Miyuki has been very suspicious of her daughter lately and faked going to work to spy on her, more on that at the very end. The man Mia was referring to was Natsuo who called her up a bit later on and said let's have dinner together, is he back to ignoring his wife Fumiko? However the restaurant was jammed packed and Natsuo was worried him and Mia would be seen together, how about visiting a love hotel.... but just to talk! That scene are the bottom screenshots above and have a feeling they did more than talk. Mia did wear the new perfume Akari had given her and the scent did rub off on Natsuo which will be discovered a bit later on. While at the hotel he received a call from his wife Fumiko, their son Haruki hasn't returned home and she's frantic with worry. So the evening had to be cut short as Natsuo did need to return home, after he dropped Mia off she began to worry does Fumiko have a strong pull over Natsuo that she had never known about? Don't know who the man is right below but he was talking with Haruki who is staying with him as he just can't ever face his father again.

 After returning home Natsuo told Fumiko not to worry, Haruki is a grown boy and if he hasn't come home by morning he'll think of something to do. That wasn't to be as in the morning Natsuo gave Fumiko the brushoff and said he had more pressing matters than to worry about his son staying out all night and left, think Natsuo would be happy if Haruki never returned home! Natsuo's words really put Fumiko on edge and she's very suspicious of her husband for she knows of at least one other affair in the past. She checked his clothing and did notice perfume on the shirt he wore the previous night, as you can see above the first woman to enter her mind was Mia!!!! Wonder why as she's become so close to Mia who has really helped Fumiko out with her mental condition. Fumiko also went through Natsuo's paperwork and noticed many entries on his credit card statement.... many were from visiting a love hotel! So to Fumiko it's not a question of is Natsuo having an affair but with who(?), to her odds are it's with Mia! Right then Haruki returned home and Fumiko asked that question above about his father cheating, that was the last we saw of her or Haruki in this show.

 Down to the final scene and that's the bottom four screenshots above. Mia was at home when her mother Miyuki arrived unexpectedly, good thing Haruki wasn't there. Miyuki is such a strict mother but in the last two shows she has treated Mia much more nicely, in a way she did here too though she had to ask some tough questions. Such as about the piercings on Mia's ears which Miyuki did notice before but never mentioned it until now. But by far the biggest question she had was from overhearing that earlier conversation with Akari, who is this mysterious man she wants to marry???? Miyuki wasn't overly mad, perhaps disappointed that her daughter couldn't come to her for advice and on that note this episode came to its conclusion. The endings to all of these shows have been the best part of an episode but the intensity never carries over, hopefully it will for the final show. That's the next recap and now on to view the episode which at 47 minutes is twice as long as the other episodes.